To increase chances of conservation success, we must understand traits that make an individual species especially resilient or vulnerable to changes in climate. Different species will be affected in different ways; sometimes negatively, but not always.

WWF has found a way to protect the snow leopard while also benefiting nomadic herders. As part of the USAID-funded Conservation and Adaptation in Asia’s High Mountain Landscapes and Communities (AHM) project, local herders like Byambatsooj are now being trained and equipped to collect basic data on the remote mountains they know better than anyone else.

After an ongoing project tracking elusive snow leopards in a remote area of northeastern Nepal, a government-led project team that included WWF succeeded in fitting a satellite-GPS collar on one of nature’s most elusive big cats on November 25.

Government representatives from the 12 Asian countries where snow leopards roam endorsed an ambitious new plan at the meeting today—a plan to protect and conserve snow leopards and their high mountain range habitat.

Now available for free in the iTunes App Store, ‘WWF Together’ is a unique interactive experience that brings you closer to the stories of elephants, whales, rhinos and other fascinating species. Discover the animal’s lives and the work of WWF in a way you’ve never seen before. Try out “tiger vision,” stay as still as the polar bear during a hunt, and chop the panda’s bamboo.

For the endangered animals of our planet—like the rare and regal snow leopard—climate change means much more than hotter days and intensified storms. These creatures face the prospect of a significant transformation of the habitats that sustain them.

In the shadow of the world’s third highest mountain, people and snow leopards are learning to coexist. In the Buddhist faith, there is a strong belief that the snow leopard is god’s pet, but local communities in Kanchenjunga, Nepal often see the endangered species as a deadly threat.

Snow leopards scale the great, steep slopes of mountains in Central Asia with ease, blending into the landscape. But these endangered cats face many threats including habitat loss, reduced prey and retaliatory killings.